


An Unlikely Visitor (Or in Tony's Mind EDITH)

by Whistlingempathy



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:46:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whistlingempathy/pseuds/Whistlingempathy
Summary: Tony has a sixth sense for crap like this. When Steve asked him to build a time machine he knew there would be risks. He knew he might not make it back. Tony just wants Peter to be okay.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Kudos: 31





	An Unlikely Visitor (Or in Tony's Mind EDITH)

They’re squabbling again. Seems like the only thing they can do these days. It’s not like there is anything they can save now-a-days and Mr. Self Righteous over there- focus Tony. 

We can save them. I can save them. I can save him-them.

Jesus. What is Steve- focus this isn’t about him.

It’s the bickering that sets him off. It’s always the bickering. They can’t do anything without Steve shoving his nose into something he has no concept of. Tony should just leave at this point. He has Morgan to think of. Morgan, his kid. His own flesh and blood. She loves him 3000. Tony smiles. 

“What are you smiling about, Stark. Just because you got off lucky-”

“Yet here I am willing to risk it all.” Tony hates Barton. No doubts about that. He’s always hated Barton.

“Focus guys.” Count on Natasha to bring them back to the situation on hand. 

God, this might be the last time he sees these assholes. Well, he could do without ever seeing Barton again. The prick.

They’d been at it for a while. Too long. 

“Dr. Strange… Yeah, what-what kind of Doctor was he?”

“He lived on Sullivan Street and- Bleecker.”

“Wait. He lived in New York?”

“No he lived in Toronto.”

“Yeah, on Bleecker and Sullivan.”

“Guys, if you pick the right year there are three stones in New York.”

“Shut the front door.”

\---

They didn’t speak that night. Tony had solved the time travel paradox and Pepper didn’t speak to him any further. No questions. Nothing. Was it so disappointing that he knew Pepper knew any discussion would be fruitless. He had a kid here for pete’s-Peter. It's always been about Peter hasn’t it.

They slept facing away from each other and when morning came he kissed her on the forehead before she could wake up. He’d never been good at goodbyes anyway.

He stopped at Morgan’s door and rested his forehead on the frame. No one ever said that Starks had been good fathers.

He turned and left.  
\---

A quantum particle can travel around a loop in time and keep returning to the same moment of interaction with another particle without creating any paradoxes, but it must meet strict consistency criteria. 

Einstein originally came up with his theory for general relativity by imagining someone freefalling in space. Said person wouldn’t feel gravity. But, if they were in an elevator accelerating through space they would feel the same amount of gravity they would on the surface of the Earth. 

Einstein had landed inside a paradox. An object that feels no force should travel at a constant speed. But something accelerating because of gravity feels no force. Einstein realized that if he resolved the paradox, he might explain the origins of gravity.This notion led to the fabric of space and time. A fabric that warps with space and time. 

The classic argument used to demonstrate the impossibility of time travel is the so-called grandfather paradox. A person travels back in time and murders his grandfather before he has any children. If he died childless, goes the argument, how could he have had grandchildren, let alone be murdered by one of them?

According to Deutsch’s calculations, if someone tried to use a time machine to enact the grandfather paradox. History consists of two concurrent branches. Initially, they are identical, both containing the grandfather. In one of them, that person (not actually a grandfather in that history) is murdered by someone who emerges from the time machine. In the other history, no one emerges, and the grandfather goes on to have children and grandchildren, one of whom enters the time machine, travels to an earlier time in the other universe, and becomes a murderer.

Most of these theories had been developed over the years with unending research behind them. Tony had figured it out in one night. Was he terrified of the possibility of getting this wrong? Absolutely. He couldn’t think about Morgan right now. This was about Peter. It was always about Peter.

“See you in a minute.”

\---

Despite everything, it worked. He was watching his worst nightmare happen before his very eyes. This was the moment that started everything. He should have prepared more. By this point he’s seen his death a thousand times, but nothing could ever prepare him to look back up and see that portal in the sky again. 

He could have done more. He had looked into that portal and seen the outcome of the war. He had seen it every night since throwing that nuke through the hole.

Sometimes he wishes he had let the nuke hit New York. At least then he wouldn’t have to suffer through the ever present fear of his nightmares coming true, yet despite everything he had done they still did.

Steve nudges his shoulder. They need to start moving or their chance to get the stones will go by.

\---

Tony’s explaining to Steve how they can fix everything and still get the stones when he sees him. 

A man rounds the corner carrying an empty tote bag. Tony knows this man. He doesn’t know where he knows him from, but he knows his face. He can feel Steve’s frustration as he stops responding and is openly staring after the man. 

The man disappears into a corner store and Tony takes a step toward him. Steve puts a hand on Tony’s chest, stopping him in his tracks.

“Tony, this is no time to go after looters.”

“What? No, Steve- I- I think- I know him. I gotta-” Tony twists under Steve’s arm and runs into the store.

The store is overflowing with people all desperately stuffing their bags with canned goods. The owner looks distressed as the looters all run from his store with their winnings. The battle is over people, calm down.

The man is at the counter standing in line. He’s behind the only other person that is bothering to purchase their items. Tony tucks himself behind a shelf and watches the man. He probably looks like a looter himself but he can’t be bothered to care. How does he know this man?

He’s holding a bag of gummy bears and some soup. Tony scoots forward to hear the man speak to the shop owner.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. This battle ended but here people are acting like it's the end of the world.” The man nods along with the salesman. He digs out his wallet and pulls out a credit card attempting to pay. “Sorry man, we are cash only right now.”

The man opens his wallet. “I just have enough for one item.” He puts the soup down and hands the man the gummy bears, “It’s for the kid.”

When the man turns around he meets Tony’s eyes and flashes him a smile. My god. He knows that smile. It’s the same smile he’s seen countless times, and its in that moment that Steve grabs him and pulls him out the door. 

“Tony, we need you to focus. We don’t have much time and we have to get the stones.”

Tony’s eyes trail after Ben as he leaves the store, and in that moment Tony realizes what he needs to do.

\---

Steve is pulling him down the block. Tony already fucked up, but if they travel back in time there is a way to fix everything. Tony is in a bit of a daze. Seems like all he ever does is fuck up in Steve’s eyes. 

\--

They go back further in time. Steve sees Peggy. Tony sees his dad. Tony sees his dad. Tony sees his dad and says goodbye. The goodbye he never got before his father’s death.

All that time he had spent pent up on the fact that he blamed Howard for his mother’s death only to realize- and he had never said goodbye. He clutches onto his father as a last ditch effort to apologize. Apologize for blaming him for the death of his mother. For never saying goodbye. For not understanding the fear of raising a kid. He won’t think of Morgan right now. 

Tony gets the Pym Particles and maybe grabs a few extra.

\--

Everything goes according to plan. When does it not? Steve puts absolutely no confidence in him. It's as if he expects him to do something wrong. They get back. 

But everything isn’t following the plan. Nat’s gone and Tony can’t help but think of those extra Pym Particles he snagged. It wouldn’t work though. He knows this, but still he can’t help but want to rush back in time. Save the day and get the girl. Get his best friend. Get the one who has been holding all of them together because God knows that both he and Steve are useless in that category.

It wouldn’t work that way. He has to keep reminding himself. Him hiding those extra Pym Particles isn’t him being selfish. It’s him being reasonable for once in his life.

Pepper would be shocked if she knew. Tony? Thinking something through? She’d probably think he’d been replaced by a skrull when they went back.

When everyone goes to sleep that night, Tony is wide awake. He has been waiting for this exact moment when he could have a chance at the machine. 

He didn’t think this through. It is as he is throwing random objects at the machine in an attempt to get it to turn on remotely that Bruce finds him.

“Why did I think it would be you in here.”

“I’m just testing out the capabilities of the machine.”

Bruce’s eyes scan Tony’s body. He is in the suit.His eyes land on the Pym Particles and his skin starts to color a bit.

“When are you going?”

“2009.”

“What? Tony we-”

“Bruce I gotta- there’s someone.”

“We aren’t gods Tony. We can’t just bring someone back.”

“I made a promise Bruce.”

“What-”

“Listen. I’ve seen it. I know what’s coming and I have to keep my promise.”

Bruce is still frowning at him but the color is no longer there. He gets it.

“Alright.”

Bruce flicks the switch and Tony disappears.

\--

They’re on the 59th Street Bridge when he finds them. Peter is sitting on a bench eating ice cream. The kid seems to have more on his face and clothes than he has managed to eat. Ben is trying in vain to wipe the ice cream off of his face. They are both laughing. 

Peter has an evil look in his eye before he shoves the ice cream into Ben’s face. Ben guffaws as Peter takes off on a run looking laughing like a madman.

Ben wipes the ice cream off of his face and chases after Peter. He catches him and twirls him around.

Tony knows what today is. Today is the day that Ben dies. Peter had never brought it up to Tony but May had told him what had happened. Peter had found Ben. Peter thought it was his fault. Ben had been shot buying Peter’s favorite snack. 

Tony watches them for a second then gets to work.

Ben has finished tickling Peter, and has sent him to buy a water bottle to help clean them up. Peter rushes up to the ice cream truck.

Ben is leaning against the railing leading into the water. This would work. Tony needs it to be foolproof to not mess with the timeline. Peter needs to think Ben has died. 

Tony sends out a bot who cuts the fence and Ben falls. In that moment the world is silent.

Tony catches him out of sight from the crowd before he hits the water. A suit envelopes him before Ben can utter a sound and in a second they are traveling through time.

\--

When Tony manages to calm Ben and pacify Bruce he takes Ben to the apartment in Queens. It’s empty. They sit there for a few hours with Ben rummaging through all of the photos of May and Peter when Tony realizes that May must have been snapped.

It takes a while for Ben to get caught up on modern day news. Tony really needs to leave. He gives Ben both Happy and Pepper’s numbers. He doesn’t bother with his own number. He doesn’t know if he will be around much longer. 

“They will be back soon. I promise.”

Tony leaves.

\--

When May pops back into existence she is back in her apartment. The only thing she can think of is Peter. She can’t find her phone. It seems to have been lost in the “popped out of existence” experience

May runs to the TV and switches it on, flipping to the news. Hardly any on the channels are working, but she knows that Peter will be where the action is. 

As she is going through the channels she looks around the apartment. She has no clue how long she has been gone but she is sure that she left the stove on. 

The apartment is cleaner than she left it. Must have been some cleaning service that Tony set up. The man seems to think of everything… Or Pepper. It was definitely Pepper. May is still flipping between the channels when the front door opens. 

She is rushing to the front of the apartment as Peter pulls his mask off. His eyes are red when he looks at May and he has fit himself into May’s open arms before she could register her movements. 

“He’s gone May. He’s gone.”

May feels her breathe leave her body. As much as she didn’t trust the man in the beginning he had grown on her. He was there every moment for Peter and had become a second father after Ben’s untimely demise.

“It’s l-l-like you say. P-p-parker l-l-luck.”

Peter is heaving with every breath. If his spidey powers hadn’t fixed all of his health issues, May would worry about him having an asthma attack.

“I- I- I don’t-”

Peter’s head snaps up and before she can blink, May is behind Peter.

“S-someone is here.”

May hears the footsteps approaching them right as the person is upon them.

“Pete? May?”

“Ben?”

If there is one thing the May knows, it is that Tony Stark can somehow always pull the impossible and take care of Peter.


End file.
